The party has demanded the projection of their national president and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha as the chief ministerial candidate of the NDA in the 2020 assembly polls.

advertisement

Rohit Kumar Singh

Patna

July 18, 2018

UPDATED: July 18, 2018 14:11 IST

Nath (right) has demanded the projection of Union Minister and RLSP president Upendra Kushwaha (left) as the CM candidate for the 2020 Bihar assembly polls.

HIGHLIGHTS

RLSP dismissed Nitish Kumar as face of NDA in Bihar

Want party chief Upendra Kushwaha to be CM candidate in 2020 assembly polls

Demanded more seats than JDU in 2019 Lok Sabha polls

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), a Bharatiya Janata Party ally in Bihar, has made a scathing attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, rejecting him as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.

The party has demanded the projection of their national president and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha as the chief ministerial candidate of the NDA in the 2020 assembly polls.

"Hamein chashme ka frame manzoor hai lekin glass badalne ki zaroorat hai (We accept the frame (NDA) but it time to change the glass (Nitish) now). This is what we want to convey to the BJP", said Jitendra Nath, vice-president of the RLSP.

Speaking to India Today TV, Jitendra Nath said that the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the state will be fought only in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It may be mentioned that the Janata Dal-United has maintained that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be fought with the face of Nitish in Bihar.

"We will fight the 2019 elections on the face of Narendra Modi and 2020 assembly elections on the face of our leader Upendra Kushwaha", said Nath.

The NDA constituent has also upped the ante on the BJP, demanding they be given more seats than the JDU in the Lok Sabha polls as they commanded a broader vote bank in comparison to Nitish Kumar's party. Nath said that earlier eleven per cent Kushwaha, four per cent Kurmi and ten per cent Dhanuk vote banks in the state were supporting Nitish Kumar but they have been let down by the Bihar CM.

"We want to be given a greater number of seats than the JDU to contest 2019 elections. If this happens, then only we can ensure an NDA victory in Bihar and social justice will happen", said the RLSP vice-president.

The RLSP vice-president said that in the past couple of years there has been a major realignment of forces in the state and the Kushwaha, Kurmi and Dhanuk community are now looking at Upendra Kushwaha as the replacement to Nitish.

"Realignment of forces has taken place in Bihar. Nitish Kumar's vote bank has shifted. He has let down his vote bank as the state government has failed to protect their rights. The three major community that supported Nitish now look up to Upendra Kushwaha", said Nath.

The RLSP has stepped up pressure on the BJP after the recently held meeting of BJP national president Amit Shah and Nitish Kumar in Patna. The Bihar CM has given a one-month deadline to Shah to come up with a seat-sharing formula acceptable to all NDA alliance partners in the state.